The Harbinger Singularity
by Sanguiluna
Summary: When Adrielle Lunan stumbles upon an ancient relic, she finds herself somehow gifted with Force powers. Hunted by the relentless Sith Empire, Adrielle is drawn into the conflict between the Sith and Republic. Seeking guidance from an abrasive Jedi Knight and his wise master, she takes her first steps into a world that threatens to swallow her whole if she is not cautious enough...
1. Chapter 1

_A long time ago in a galaxy far,  
far away…._

_**Star Wars: The Harbinger Singularity**_

**Rhelg**

Flanked by his company of troopers, Lord Tadras descended the boarding ramp onto the planet's surface. His nose wrinkled in irritation at the residing dust cloud that had resulted from their shuttle's landing as he beheld the structure before them.

"In there. Most likely the innermost chamber. Follow my lead precisely, and you may leave here alive. Otherwise…" He chuckled at the unspoken threat as he proceeded through the massive entryway, whose doors had long since fallen from their hinges. His stride confident, certain…

Oblivious to the gaze of another watching him.

. . .

Sure enough, it was Tadras's senses that allowed their party to sense any remaining traps or deceptions, allowing them to proceed in relative safety, barring the delayed toxic dart that fell one soldier, and another soldier's curiosity overriding his commonsense to lead him to a rigged chest which detonated as he approached, killing him instantly.

"Anyone else falls out of line, you'd best pray a trap ends you, because I won't be so quick with you," Tadras snarled, as he gestured them to continue on.

It took them about another twenty minutes for them to finally reach their goal: a massive, darkened circular room that once upon a time must have served as a laboratory or a ritual chamber, or perhaps both, judging from the various tables and stone slabs, many of which were stained brown from the blood of various beings that were once placed on them.

Tadras ignited his lightsaber, allowing its red glow to illuminate the area in front of him.

"Activate your night vision and spread out," ordered Tadras, "Remember, anything that looks like it could be a holo device."

The remaining eight soldiers spread out to the edges of the room as Tadras investigated the center. The tables were littered mostly with scrolls, books, and various tools and implements which easily could lend themselves to either dissections or operations, or to sacrifices, further cementing his impression of the area.

Finally, his saber's glow fell on a table with more scrolls, one of which had been weighed down by a small box. He opened it and gasped triumphantly.

"This must be it," he mused, It's the closest thing I've seen so far."

He took out the small palm-sized disc and held it up. A small map of the Inner Rim was displayed, with a particular planet highlighted.

"Found you," Tadras said with a smile. "Mission comp—"

His thoughts were cut off by a scream from one of the troopers, along with a sudden blue flash that went out just as quickly. Tadras turned to the direction it had happened.

"Find him!"

The trooper closest to where the flash had been jogged over to where it had happened and looked down to see one of his own, a deep cauterized gash across his chest.

"What the…"

The trooper never got to finish his thought before he was suddenly jerked straight up into the air with a scream, just as another blue flash went off in the ceiling above them.

The second trooper's body dropped unceremoniously to the ground seconds later, and the flash was gone again. Tadras raised his lightsaber toward the ceiling, but it was too high, beyond his blade's ability to illuminate.

But he didn't need a light to guide him. He began reaching out with his senses…

Only to be forced to jump out of the way of a table flying in his direction, the blue flash going off again (accompanied by yet another trooper's scream) in his peripheral, accompanied by the red flash of two soldier's blasters followed by their cries and the clacking of their armored bodies crumpling to the floor. Blast! He'd have to center himself again.

"Form up around me! I'll find him."

The surviving three soldiers surrounded Tadras, two in front and one behind, as the Sith Lord centered himself again.

_Got you._

"Three o'clock!" he called.

The troopers all turned to their right and opened fire. In the illumination of their blaster shots, they could glimpse a lone robed figure as it leapt high in the air. The soldiers tried following him with their shots, not realizing the danger from the opposite wall.

But Tadras did.

"No!" He leapt as well, just as the blue flash travelled from his left, sweeping below him, but felling the last three soldiers, before taking its place in the enemy's hand.

A lightsaber.

Lowering the hood of his robe, **Uriel Baylan** stood facing Tadras.

"Jedi," Tadras growled.

"Oh good, you can see. Congratulations," Uriel said, "So you know why I'm here. The map, now, and maybe I'll consider advocating for you to the Republic as a defector."

"We both know this can only end one way," the Sith Lord replied.

Uriel shrugged. "Don't say I didn't try."

They leapt at each other, their blades clashing repeatedly, strikes increasing in speed before their sabers locked.

Uriel pressed forward. "You're not getting your hands on the relic, scum," he declared straining as he continued pushing.

"It's too late!" Tadras retorted, "I know where to go! You're just the last obstacle!"

"Damn straight I'm your last."

Suddenly Uriel disengaged and leapt back, onto one of the surgical tables/sacrifice altars. He stood straight with a smirk, as in his other hand he held the holomap.

"Lose something?" he jeered.

The shock passed Tadras's face in an instant before being replaced by fury. "You little…"

Uriel leapt back again, deactivating his lightsaber.

"This trick again?" Tadras called out, putting as much boredom into his voice as he could. "How much of a fool must you think I a—"

Just then, Tadras's own blade went out.

"I don't know, how much sand is there in the Tatooine deserts?"

Uriel's blade ignited behind Tadras a couple seconds later, but it was more than enough time for him to reactivate his blade and turn to block the Jedi's strike. As their blade's locked, Tadras could feel Uriel's attempt to manipulate his saber switch once more. An attempt he easily blocked.

_This coward is so inept he leans on elementary tricks to look stronger than he actually is!_ Tadras thought, fighting back a laugh.

Giving up on switching off Tadras's saber again, Uriel leapt back once more and switched off his blade.

Anticipating his foe's next action, Tadras held his blade in front of his face and centered himself. The next time this foolish Jedi tries to use the Force on his saber again, he'll pinpoint his presence in the dark.

He waited.

Then he _felt it_.

Immediately Tadras hurled his saber in the direction where he had felt the shift in the Force. He heard a clipped cry, but before he could do anything, he felt the air almost completely forced out of him, followed by a sharp pain between his shoulder blades. He slumped forward, falling on all fours. He reached behind him and felt the hilt of the dagger; that damned Jedi hadn't used the Force on his lightsaber. He mentally chided himself for such a foolish assumption as he heard Uriel's footsteps coming near him. The Jedi ignited his blade. His free hand was holding the upper part of his sword arm, where Tadras's lightsaber had grazed him.

"Bastard…" Uriel muttered, "Didn't even occur to me that he'd throw his saber. Stupid…"

Tadras summoned his lightsaber back, igniting it in midair, only for Uriel to cleave the hilt in two, as Tadras yanked the dagger from his back and lunged toward him. But Uriel brought his blade around and slashed across the Sith Lord.

Tadras collapsed to his side. Uriel waited for him to move again. He didn't.

"Rot down here forever. The least you deserve." Uriel brought out the holomap and activated it. "Hmm. Obroa-skai. Pretty neutral world, though I guess that's the point." Putting it back in his robe, he activated his comlink. "Reena, I got what I came for. Get the ship ready."

. . .

Back outside, Uriel strode up the boarding ramp of the ship.

**Shy'reena** glanced behind her from the cockpit. "Welcome back. What about the Imperials?"

"All taken care of. Stealth wasn't an option for this one."

Reena shrugged. "Eh, like they'll be missed."

The ship took off, making a run by the now abandoned Sith shuttle and disposing of it with several well-placed shots, before leaving the planet and making the jump to hyperspace.

"So…" Reena skipped over to Uriel, who was applying bacta to his arm wound. "Ooh, nasty. Do I want to know what the other guy looks like?"

"Trust me, the sight of him would make your stomach turn," Uriel answered, "Also he got stabbed in the back and slashed across the chest and head."

"Hah!" Reena sat down next to him. "So, you got it? What now?"

Uriel brought out the holomap and placed it on the table in front of them. It turned on.

"First I report back to Orrickos, then, next stop… Obroa-skai."

**Rhelg**

His comlink destroyed by Uriel's last saber strike, Tadras had no choice but to crawl to the corpse of the nearest trooper, take his helmet, and input the appropriate codes.

"Hi-high priority m-message…" he began. "Lord Phagos… mission… mission was a failure… But, we have… location… relic… is on… Obroa… skai…"

With that, Lord Tadras breathed his last.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dromund Kaas**

Her pace brisk and with purpose, **Darth Judecca** walked through the halls of the Imperial Citadel, her gaze focused straight ahead, forcing her fellow Imperials, Sith or otherwise, to move out of her way.

She'd only been awake for less than three hours, her morning turned upside down from an emergency transmission from Lord Tadras, one of her master's subordinates. She initially didn't know what to make of the message. On one hand, she was almost certain that news of the map's loss would incur her master, Phagos's wrath. So she leaned on the second half of the message—the revelation of the artifact's location—to hopefully temper that wrath, if not dowse it completely.

Seeing the lift ahead open, Judecca rushed forward through the doors before they closed. As the lift ascended, she found herself barely able to contain herself. Despite the obvious setback of Tadras's death, she couldn't deny that events were fully in motion. Her gambit was paying off. What had started as a desperate bid to both prove her worth and immediately establish her position within the grand order of things now promised to come to fruition beyond her initial expectations. But first, she had to be sure to say and do exactly the right things to push everything along.

The lift opened, and Judecca made her way through the corridor, to her master's chambers. Entering, she approached his personal assistant droid.

"I need to speak to Master Phagos," she began, "I bring word from Lord Tadras. We know where it is."

**Obroa-skai**

Bringing her hand up to her forehead in a vain attempt to filter the light around her, **Adrielle Lunan** sat up, as slowly as possible to keep her disorientation to a minimum. Cursing silently at her foolishness, she made her way to the bathroom, each step a repeated promise to herself to swear off Pamarthean wine for life.

Stripping away her soiled clothes from the previous night, she made her way into the shower, letting the steaming cascade wash over her. Finally, after what felt like hours before she was anywhere close to being refreshed, she stepped out and got dressed. She glanced at her chrono: if she hurried now, she'd be right in time to catch… the last ten minutes of her first class.

Groaning, she gathered her things and made her way to where her second class would be.

. . .

"Damn, Elle, I'm just shocked you're even walking around after last night!" Adrielle's dorm mate, Nari, said almost admiringly. "How many shots of Port in a Storm did you even end up ta—"

"Ugh, _shut up_! _Never_ mention that crap again!" Adrielle exclaimed dramatically, "You know I hadn't even planned to go there, but _someone_…" She glanced-glared at Nari, "needed a wingman, only to go home emptyhanded."

"Can't be helped if he has bad taste," Nari replied dismissively. "Anyway, I think I might have the perfect opportunity for redemption, for both of us. Turns out, Sidrona house is having a little thing tonight, my friend Kass—"

"Thanks, but I'm good for now." _And forever_, Adrielle added mentally. "Anyway, I have a bit of makeup work I have to do for my first class, seeing as how I missed like ninety percent of it today."

"Well, the invite's always open if you want to change your mind," Nari as their paths diverged.

Adrielle decided to take a slightly longer route back to her dorm building, hoping the additional time and exercise would help her organize her thoughts. The fact she could even begin thinking about getting her thoughts together boded well for her regarding her recovery. Gliding her hand along the guardrail as she walked, she chose to take solace in the fact that the thought of food no longer made her violently ill.

_Hopefully the caf won't be packed by the time I get back_.

So lost was she in her thoughts, she only just stopped in her tracks, as a red ball sailed past her, over the guardrail. She followed its path with her eyes, as the ball bounced down the rocky slope, and into the drainage tunnel across the trench.

"Oh _no_!" she heard a voice whine from her left. She turned to see two small Nautolan boys running to the guardrail. One of them stopped and fixed his gaze on the tunnel, while the other began climbing the guardrail.

"Whoa these, easy!" Adrielle called out as she grabbed the excessively courageous child and set him down next to his friend. "Don't think you want to risk that. You might just hurt yourself on the climb down, and even if you don't, good luck climbing back up."

"But our ball!" Brave Kid insisted. Adrielle squatted down next to them so she could be on eye level to them.

"Look, how about I go down there, get your ball, and toss it back up? At least with my longer arms and legs I'll be able to climb both down and up, no problem!" She gave the boys an over the top smile in hopes of lifting their spirits.

"No, that's okay," Caution Kid answered, "We don't wanna put you through too much trouble."

"Nah, no trouble at all," Adrielle assured him, "Shouldn't take more than five minutes tops. No worries."

The two boys looked at each other then back at her, the worry still not entirely erased, but nodded all the same.

"Great. Just sit tight and I'll be back in a flash!"

Adrielle swung one leg over the guardrail, then the other. She began her attempted climb down the slope, before giving up and just letting herself slide down to the bottom.

"You okay?" one of the boys called. Adrielle just gave a thumbs up and made her way across, to the drainage tunnel.

The tunnel was much deeper than she'd initially suspected. She thought she'd find the ball just lying near the entrance, but it obviously had rolled a pretty good ways in. Squinting her eyes as though it would somehow speed up their ability to acclimate to the dark inside, Adrielle slowly ventured in. Several feet in, and still no sign of the boys' ball.

With each step she took, she was finding it increasingly difficult to shake the sense that some…thing, else, was down there, though she had no rational basis for this.

At a branching path in the tunnel, she finally found her goal. "Wow, that's… that's a good ball to roll all the way here." She bent down to pick the ball up, but saw a hole in the path to her left at the corner of her eye. Turning her gaze, she noticed a ladder built in to the side of the shaft going down.

She also noticed that uncanny feeling in her increase substantially when she'd turned in that direction. Almost instinctively, Adrielle placed the ball back down, gently so as to not have it roll any further, and turned to the hole and began cautiously climbing down the ladder.

She followed the path into a circular chamber with four new tunnel entrances. She focused on each entrance starting from the left, but noticed that feeling increase once more when she turned her attention to the third from the left. She started down that path. She almost didn't notice the path sloping down until it had become too steep, but fortunately there were grooves on either side of the tunnel wall for her to use to control her descent. Finally she made it out the other side, and suppressed a gasp.

This new area was _not_ sewer. No tunnels, no metal walling. Just pure, seemingly untampered cavern. And in the middle of the cavern, on a tall but slender flat-topped rock, was what looked like a three-pronged star, jet black except for the tips: one blue, one red (which seemed less faded than the other two), and one violet.

She approached the rock, and, gazing almost entranced at the object, she reached out and grabbed it by the red prong which had been pointing upward.

Suddenly, a great many things happened: In her eyes, blinding flashes, interrupted by two environments Adrielle had never seen before—one an island in an ocean, the other a vast frozen wasteland; in her ears, the sounds of waves crashing and storms billowing; on her skin, the light tickle of water spray on her, which just made the cold breezes on her even more excruciating; in her nose and mouth the scent of the ocean and taste of saltwater, followed by an overpowering chill enveloping her face, bombarding her throat and sinuses as she made an involuntary sharp inhale.

Overwhelmed, Adrielle let out a scream as the object crumbled to dust in her grip, and she collapsed on the hard rocky ground.

**Moraband**

His mask betraying none of the surprise that had momentarily taken ahold, **Darth Marr** raised a hand, bringing silence down upon the other eleven Dark Council members in attendance.

"We must adjourn," he declared. "I have pressing issues to attend to."

Making his way to his personal quarters, he activated his holocomm.

The image of Darth Judecca appeared on the comm. She immediately went on one knee.

"Lord Marr, to what do we owe the honor?"

"Fetch your master for me," Marr commanded, "I have knowledge that he may find rather useful."

**Dantooine**

**Orrickos** snapped his eyes open, suddenly aware of the sweat on his brow and the increased rate of his breathing.

As if on cue, Uriel Baylan burst into the room, likewise out of breath. "Master! Did you—"

"I did," Orrickos answered, looking up at Uriel. "Contact Colonel Jysed. We may need to accelerate our plans." He stood up. "We must get to Obroa-skai in time, or else I fear all may be lost."


	3. Chapter 3

**Obroa-skai**

No sooner had Adrielle Lunan begun opening her eyes, than she shut them as tight as she could to stop even the smallest amount of light to pierce through to her brain.

_This is getting to be a really bad trend_, she thought as she brought her forearm up to her head to shield her eyes further.

"Hey you, you're finally awake," a familiar voice said: Nurse Veena.

"Wha…" Adrielle took a breath, collecting her thoughts in the process. "What happened? How did I…"

"You have two very concerned, if not slightly smitten, young Nautolans to thank for your rescue," the nurse explained. "They alerted the park security that you'd vanished. Said you were helping them out, getting their ball back for them, but that they'd waited for almost an hour for you to resurface, and you never did." She picked up a datapad from the stand next to Adrielle's bed. "Found you knocked out. No injuries that I could observe. BP normal, pulse normal… brain activity was pretty erratic though. Must've had some crazy dreams."

"I wish I could remember."

"But besides that, nothing. I'd theorize that you'd suffered a stroke of some kind, but your speech seems fine, and neural activity is functioning regularly." She glanced over the datapad at her patient. "I guess the only course of action left is quite simply… _how are you feeling_, Miss Lunan?"

Removing her hand from her face and alternating between closing and opening each eye to acclimate herself, Adrielle slowly sat up. She widened her eyes and looked around: no disorientation, no urge to throw up her guts.

"I think I'm… fine?"

"Hm." The nurse switched off the datapad and stepped aside, giving Adrielle a clear path to the door. "Then I guess officially, you're free to go. Just a couple things for you to sign with my receptionist, but that's about it. I can't detain you since you empirically have nothing wrong with you, and by your own admission you seem to be fully recovered."

"Thanks." Adrielle swung her lower body to the side of the bed, sitting at the side momentarily before standing. She hadn't realized she was still wearing the same outfit. "Hey how long's it been?"

"Oh, just about a day and a half," the nurse answered. Adrielle groaned.

"Great, _more_ makeup work I'll have to worry about." She got to her feet and made her way out.

. . .

In hindsight, Adrielle thought, perhaps she shouldn't have been so hasty to discharge herself.

As soon as she sat herself down in the lecture hall, it took all she had to stop herself from putting her head down and squeezing it between her elbows. She settled with resting her chin on her forearms, staring intently ahead hoping that that would block out the tidal wave.

Feelings. So many feelings. Clashing feelings, excessive feelings. Excitement and dread at the same time, deep sadness and near giddy happiness, apathy, boredom, anger. Why was she feeling all of this? She hadn't done or said anything since walking in, nor had anyone else approached her to warrant such emotions.

"ELLE! By the stars!" Adrielle involuntarily shut her eyes in response to a particularly sharp surge in her head, as she felt her pulse quicken with excitement over… what?

She turned to see Nari take the seat next to her.

"You're okay!" Nari exclaimed in relief. "I visited you while you were still knocked out, I didn't even see you when you came back to the dorm and—" A look of confusion crossed her face. "Elle, you okay? What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Adrielle blinked in her own confusion before realizing. She wiped away her tears with her jacket sleeve. "What in the…" She didn't know what look she was giving her friend but she figured it must not have been a very reassuring one based on the uncertainty and worry on Nari's own face.

"All right, let's begin!" their professor called out as he entered the room. Almost instantaneously, the chaos in Adrielle's mind subsided, though she could still feel it, almost like a soup simmering in low heat: not as frantic, but still undeniably present.

"So, if you'll recall that question I'd asked you all at the end of our last meeting…"

Adrielle's attention began wandering. She hadn't realized until her eyes casually swept over her chrono: over half the class time was done, but she hadn't even filled up half of the blank document page on her notepad. Usually she'd be two pages in by the halfway point. Apparently that "simmer" in her mind wasn't as benign as she'd wishfully thought it was. She made a mental note to herself to check herself back in to the infirmary just to be sa—

"AAGH!" Just like that the simmer returned to a full force boil, more severe than ever. Before she was even aware of it, she'd ended up curled up under the table, whimpering, her chair overturned. She was blind and deaf to the world around her, her eyes shut with her screaming the only sound in her ears. And the fear—no… _terror_. She'd never felt so helpless, so frightened. As she continued screaming, she could hear her voice multiplying until it was as though a whole army of screams was permeating the lecture hall.

A rumbling sound and a violent tremor was shock enough to shake her back to her senses. Her scream diminished into gasps. But yet she could still hear the army of screams in her ears. Opening her eyes, she realized that the "army" had been everyone else in the room, crouched under their tables, their terror a reflection of her own.

Another rumble and tremor.

"THIS WAY!" the professor yelled, pointing at the open door. "WE NEED TO GET TO OPEN AREA IN CASE THIS WHOLE PLACE COMES DOWN!"

Ignoring their instructor, the students all stampeded out the room and into the halls, where all their other classmates were doing likewise. Still recovering from the sensory overload she'd suffered, Adrielle tried to keep up, but her attention was distracted as she glanced out the window and let out a gasp.

A destroyer. A _Sith Empire_ destroyer. She'd seen them on news holos and in picture form on textbooks, but never in person. And truth be told, she'd rather hoped that that would remain the case her whole life.

**The Sith star destroyer **_**Devourer**_

Darth Judecca looked down on the scene below her as the ship's turbolasers let out several warning shots. Not quite meant to do damage or to destroy; merely to enforce the point that a new order had come to Obroa-skai, to discourage any resistance or reprisal.

"I think they've had enough," Judecca said. "Begin deployment."

. . .

The entirety of the Obroa-skai College campus was in pandemonium. Students and administrators alike scrambled to find safely, none of them noticing the box-shaped shuttles descending from the destroyer above.

For each shuttle that made landfall, a squad of ten troopers led by a single Sith Lord came marching out. Soon, the Empire's ground forces would be in complete control of the surface.

The last shuttles made their landing, as they poured out their squads. Upon the final shuttle opening, the Sith Lord in charge scanned the scene before him before he, along with his fellow Sith across the city, received a comm from Judecca.

"Remember, you're searching for a very particular presence, probably unlike anything you'll have ever sensed before. It won't feel the same as a normal Force-sensitive person. Keep your senses sharp, and kill any who get in your way. We have a headstart on the Republic, do _not_ squander it."

"As you say." The Sith Lord turned to his squad. "Move out!"

. . .

"Elle!"

Adrielle heard Nari first before she spied her waving her arms trying to get her attention. Wading her way through the sea of bodies, Adrielle kept her gaze on her friend, both to keep track of her as well as to have something—_anything_—to distract her from the cacophony that was threatening to split her skull clean open.

She was only about fifteen people away from her when suddenly the window shattered as crimson bolts punctured the crowd. Nari was one of the first to fall.

"NO!" Adrielle cried. She turned to her right to see ten dark grey armored soldiers firing into the crowd, led by a lone masked individual wielding what could only be a lightsaber, remembering the stories she'd both read and watched on the holonet.

The crowd began going in wildly different directions; some turning back the direction they came, some rushing forward, still others running _outside_ in the direction of the soldiers, maybe hoping that their attention would be too focused on the ones still in the hallway to aim at them (it wasn't).

Adrielle moved to her left, pressing as close to the wall as possible and putting as many people between her and the advancing army, and continued forward, ignoring the orders of the masked swordswoman to get on their knees with hands behind their head and her declaration that Obroa-skai was now the domain of the Sith Empire.

Finally Adrielle spied a left turn up ahead. Fortunately most of the others didn't dare take a turn that might lead them further back indoors, so as she turned, she found her traversal much easier as she was able to actually break into a run. But where would she go? She asked herself that repeatedly as she ran through the turns in the hallway. She had no direction, no destination. Hell, hadn't that been part of the _whole point _for her leaving her family and homeworld to take schooling here? To discover what she wanted to do with her life? Now she found herself questioning if she'd even have much life left after today.

That question seemed to answer itself more than clearly, as Adrielle ran headfirst into another group of soldiers.

"Hostile!" one of them called.

"Idiot," spat the red-skinned being leading the group, "It's just a civilian. Dispose of her so we can continue our sweep!"

"Yes, lord!" All ten raised their rifles. Adrielle's eyes widened as she felt a terror like she'd not felt to that point; the terror of one about to die but completely _un_ready to do so, a terror which dwarfed even the feeling that had crippled her back in the classroom.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Adrielle screamed as she shut her eyes and stretched out her arms instinctively.

Once more she heard a union of screams. But interestingly, all those voices were distinctively not hers.

"Wait a minute…" she heard a voice say. Adrielle opened her eyes, and gasped.

In front of her, the soldiers were sprawled all throughout the hallway before her, while the red-skinned man in the cloak was on one knee, his arms crossed in front of him protectively, but Adrielle could see his face behind them, appraising her with a curiosity that made her quite uncomfortable.

The red-skin stood up. "That power. That _presence_… But it's supposed to be an _artifact_." He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it, its crimson blade permeating the corridor with an eerie glow. "You're coming with me. I'll soon get to the bottom of this." He took a few steps forward as Adrielle took steps back to maintain distance, until she was back against a wall. With no other option, she sank down, sitting with her back to the wall.

"Fine. An autopsy it is, then." The red-skin raised his lightsaber and brought it down upon the girl…

Only to be stopped by a second blade, this time of blue light.

"For love of the Force, at least take her to dinner before going for the big thrust," the newcomer quipped. Adrielle glanced up and to her right.

Holding the blue saber was a clean-shaven man with long black hair, wearing white robes underneath a black cloak.

"Impossible!" the red-skin barked as he backed away. "You shouldn't be here!"

"And your mother should've swallowed, so I guess we're both disappointments, aren't we?"

With a roar, the red-skin launched himself at the human, who deftly blocked each strike, until he found his opening and ended the fight with a quick and efficient riposte. The red-skin fell to the floor, his lightsaber deactivating and rolling away from his body until the human stopped it with his booted foot, then destroyed it with a quick strike from his blue saber.

The newcomer turned to Adrielle. "Just you?" he said.

Adrielle nodded. The newcomer sighed.

"Fine, just shut up and stay close to me and I'll get you out."

"But there's—"

"Did you _not_ just hear the first part of that sentence?" the newcomer said as he broke into a light jog, forcing Adrielle to keep up. "I'll lead you outside, then you get to safety."

The two of them continued down the path, either dodging further encounters, or the man able to dispatch them with relative ease, until he ran into the worst possible thing: a whole squad, still led by its Sith master, and still united.

"Jedi!" the squad leader exclaimed as he ignited his lightsaber and rushed the man, his identity now (kind of) revealed.

The Jedi fought impressively, but the fight was proving to be difficult, what with having to parry both an enemy saber _and_ enemy rifles. Still, that didn't stop him from deflecting some of the soldiers' bolts back at them—and possibly even the Sith, though he was more than ready for that with his own deflections—as he continued the duel. By the time the Jedi had the fight won, he'd impressively managed to whittle the soldiers down to only two. But he was too focused on the Sith at that particular moment that he finally failed to check the soldiers.

They took their aim.

"No! Look out!" Adrielle called out as she pointed at the two soldiers. Suddenly they seemingly jumped backwards into the wall, dropping their blasters and slumping down to the floor.

The Jedi took advantage of the Sith's shock to end the duel decisively. He took a couple moments to catch his breath before turning to Adrielle.

"That was you, right?"

Adrielle nodded.

"Huh. Didn't know we had any of our own stationed here. Who's your master?"

"I…"

"Oh damn, unless _you're_ the master, in which case my apologies, it's just you look kind of you—"

"_I'm not a master_!" Adrielle snapped; the Jedi just looked at her in surprise. "I'm not…" She sighed. "I'm not _anything_. I don't even know how I did that!"

The Jedi lowered his lightsaber and extinguished it. "Wait, you mean you've lived all this time and no one from the Order ever found or sensed you? I'd think at least one of us would've come by here at some point in the last eighteen, nineteen years or so."

"No, I'm not what you think I am!" Adrielle said firmly. "I don't know how I did that, or even _if_ I did that! I-I didn't _have_ any of this until just a couple days ago—" She stopped suddenly, as her eyes seemed to focus on something beyond the time and place she was at. How did she not put two and two together?

"That damn thing…"

The Jedi furrowed his brow. "Sorry, you lost me, the damn what now?"

"This, this… _thing_ that I found a couple days ago. I touched it, it turned to dust and knocked me out. Ever since then I've been having these really bad headaches… I just feel all these wild emotions and feelings, and I couldn't explain it!"

At this the Jedi skipped a breath and intensified his gaze on her. "This… thing… Star-shaped? Black stone? Colored tips?"

Adrielle looked at the Jedi incredulously. "…Yeah. How did you—"

The Jedi was on her in an instant. Standing right in her face, he planted a hand on her head and closed his eyes. Adrielle was too shocked to even think to do something. Seconds later, the Jedi's eyes snapped open and he looked at Adrielle with seemingly new eyes.

"The relic…" he muttered. "Impossible. And you said the thing is gone?"

"Disintegrated," Adrielle confirmed. "Again… _why_?"

Instead of answering, the Jedi reached for his comlink. "Reena, I… you'll never believe it, but… I… think I just completed the mission." A moment, followed by a female voice:

"Wait what? You found it already?"

"Yeah, I found…" The Jedi stopped, realizing the ill-fitting pronoun. "Just get the ship ready. We're on our way back."

"Copy that." A beat. Then, "Wait, what do you mean w—"

He switched off the comlink and put it back in his robes and looked at Adrielle. "You're probably really, really, really confused, and that's fine. But all you have to know is that you need to come with me, and that we can help you make sense of what's happened."

"What _has_ happened?!" Adrielle asked frantically. "I don't know _anything_ about any of this! I don't even know who the hell _you_ are!"

The Jedi sighed and extended his hand. "Uriel. Jedi, and right now, your only hope for getting out of here alive."

Adrielle looked down at the Jedi's—Uriel's—hand, still not at all sure what to make of any of it.

Just then, somewhere distant, she heard several explosions that sounded like they came from the sky. She ran past Uriel, down the hall to the emergency exit, and looked up to see a new ship looming overhead.

"The Republic," Uriel said, catching up to her. "We alerted them to the threat of a possible Imperial attack on this world, but the Order also sent me ahead to give us a headstart." He moved in front of Adrielle to make sure she was looking at him. "They'll drive the Empire back out of this planet and they won't stop until there isn't a single Sith left standing here," he promised. "That's their duty, their purpose. _You_…" He extended his hand once more. "Your purpose is elsewhere."

Adrielle took one more look at the Republic cruiser, then back down at Uriel's gloved hand. At this point, what other option did she have?

"Fine," she said, taking his hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**The **_**Drowning Mermaid**_

They'd been in hyperspace for upwards of two hours. Having run out of things to help Shy'reena with, Uriel resigned himself to sitting in the main cabin, where Adrielle was. He decided to meditate, hoping it would rush the time.

"So…"

He suppressed a sigh as he looked at the girl sitting across him.

"You're a Jedi," Adrielle said uncertainly, "and you're taking me to your… base?"

"Our temple," Uriel corrected her. "Hopefully the Jedi there will have some kind of answer as to what's going on with you and your… condition."

He surveyed her. Just from initial glance, from her green-dyed hair which reached her shoulders, to her deep red strapless top and matching pants, she looked like someone easily more at home in a cantina or club than a temple. And yet, if his theory from what he'd seen of her was true…

"Just to be clear again," Uriel said, "You've never exhibited any abilities like that until just a few hours ago?"

Adrielle shook her head. "Never. And I've encountered one or two Jedi growing up on my homeworld, and they never mentioned anything to me or my parents." She started suddenly, as a thought just crossed her mind. "My parents! They have no idea what's happened! I need to contact them and let them know—"

"Not so fast," Uriel interrupted. "Look I know you're worried about them, and they'll probably be worried about you once word of Obroa-skai gets out. But we need to confer with the Council first before we decide anything further." When he sensed her withdrawing in herself—definitely not what they needed at this point—he added, "You have our word, you'll be able to get in touch with them soon. But there are some things we need to do first."

That seemed to appease her for now, as he sensed some of her tension ease up. From the corner of his eye he saw Reena pop her head out from the doorway to the cockpit area.

"We'll be out of hyperspace in a bit. Get ready."

Uriel nodded to her. "Thanks." He stood, looked at Adrielle and moved his head in the direction of the cockpit. "Come on."

**Dantooine**

The _Mermaid_ docked in one of the temple's free landing bays. Reena led the way down the ramp, Uriel and Adrielle behind.

Adrielle hadn't interacted with Reena during the journey over so this was the first time she was able to get a good look at the Twi'lek in front of her. The first thing she noticed:

"Um, Uriel," she whispered, "Her left lekku. What happened? Part of it is—"

"Don't ask," he whispered back. "If she's ever okay with you knowing, she'll tell you. Til then, ignore it."

Nodding, Adrielle dropped the subject. Looking past Reena, she noticed someone walking briskly toward them. Uriel matched the newcomer's pace, passing both women and meeting him halfway.

"Karm!" Uriel greeted, "I would've sworn that you'd be at Obroa-skai on the ground, what with your dad leading the campaign."

**Karmus Jysed** grasped Uriel's hand. "I probably would have if I hadn't been finishing up on Corellia. Likely it's a matter of time before I do get called." He turned his gaze to the approaching women. "Reena," he greeted, nodding cordially.

"Jysed," Reena returned, stopping and placing a casual hand on her hip.

Karm then noticed the girl next to Reena. He tried to hide his obvious confusion as he said, "Greetings. Lieutenant Karmus Jysed, Republic military." He extended his hand, which Adrielle shook uncertainly as she introduced herself. "I'm going to assume you came from Obroa-skai?" Karm said.

"Yes," she answered, glancing at Uriel as though searching for some kind of hint. He nodded while widening his eyes as though to say _What? Go ahead!_

"Sorry about what happened," Karm continued, "You have our assurances that we're going to do all we can to drive the Empire offworld as soon as possible."

"Thanks." Adrielle didn't have the heart to tell him she wasn't actually a native, but she appreciated the sincerity nonetheless: a sentiment that Reena apparently did not share judging by her snort.

"All right, hero man, let's go. I'm thinking these two have a bit of business to attend to."

Karm gave Reena a quick scowl before he realized the connotation. "Oh…" He nodded to Uriel to lead the way.

"So what's the public spin on the attack?" Uriel asked as they walked through the hallways connecting the hangars to the temple itself. "Has it even reached the general public?"

"Story broke about an hour ago," Karm answered. "So far just another invasion. Typical Sith being Sith, another neutral world caught up in the tug of war between them and the Republic. Nothing in the holonet implicating you guys so far."

"Good. Means we did our job well," Uriel said as he raised an arm, hand facing backward, which Reena slapped from behind in response.

The four of them made their way to the main hall of the temple. Reena made her way to one of the benches along the wall and stretched herself out on it with her hands under her head, drawing confused at best, indignant at worst looks from some of the students, and mere exasperation from some of the older Knights and Masters who then glanced in Uriel's direction.

Karm stopped outside the door to the more inner halls and chambers, recognizing his boundary. "Well, if my old man makes the call before I see you again, take it easy." He looked at Adrielle. "Good luck, Ms. Lunan."

"Just Adrielle, and thank you," she answered with a smile. She found that she appreciated this man's earnest and considerate demeanor, especially given the company she'd had during the trip over.

"All right, this way," Uriel said shortly, leading the way through the door.

Adrielle trailed behind as he led the way through the halls, struggling not to be distracted by the sheer beauty and tranquility around her, from the gardens on the other side of the railing on their right, to the rooms and chambers which ranged from reading rooms, sparring chambers, or just meditation centers through open doors along the left wall. Even the subtle creak of the floorboards beneath her feet as she walked added to the ambience of the environment in ways normal permacrete floors couldn't.

Uriel led them to another area of the temple. This time there were doors along both walls, all closed, and the material was all metal, much closer to what Adrielle was used to. Uriel led her to a door on the left wall. He pressed a button on the panel next to it. A moment later the panel glowed green and the door slid open. Uriel entered the room, Adrielle right behind him.

"Master," Uriel greeted, "I've brought the… I'm not quite sure, actually."

Adrielle glanced past Uriel to see an elderly Devaronian stand from behind his desk. He was wearing similar garb to Uriel, except his robes were maroon with a brown cloak.

"Uriel," the master greeted back, "I'm glad you made it back safely. I just got word from Colonel Jysed. Luckily, it doesn't seem that the Empire's heart is entirely in it on Obroa-skai, given they never actually had any designs on the planet. Even more so, since their search for the artifact is obviously DOA."

"Oh good. So hopefully the battle won't last long and they'll give up and leave."

"If only the Sith operated like that. Such is the folly of their pride. And I can only guess that this…" He gestured to Adrielle, who glanced again at Uriel, who again gave her the 'what are you waiting for?' look.

She stepped forward to the master, who extended his hand.

"My name is Orrickos. I am the master of the Jedi Council of this temple. I understand you have a lot of questions, as do we." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. "Please. The only way we're going to be able to plan our next move is if we put everything we have on the table." He returned to his seat as Uriel and Adrielle took theirs. He looked at her again. "So, Uriel here managed to give me an extremely condensed version of what had happened, but I'd much prefer to get the full story from you."

Adrielle nodded, and began recounting everything she had gone through to that point to the master: The star-shaped item she found, the headaches and violent moods she'd been feeling, watching her friends and classmates die all around her, her unexplained bursts of… some kind of ability that she was one hundred percent certain she'd never had before.

When she was done, Orrickos nodded. "Hmm. And you're sure that you've never exhibited—"

"_No_." Why does everyone keep asking her that? Keep doubting her? "Like I told Uriel before, you guys aren't even the first Jedi I've ever met, and they sure as hell didn't see anything special in me."

"Master, there _is_ a way to be sure," Uriel suggested.

Orrickos nodded. "I suppose it's the best way," he said as he reached in his desk and pulled out what looked like a datapad, as well as a thin hand-sized metal cylinder with an opening on one end. "Your wrist, if you please, Adrielle?"

Adrielle extended her arm toward the master, who took it and placed the cylinder over her wrist, opening against her skin, just near the base of her hand.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt…" He pressed the other end with his thumb.

"Ow!"

"…too much." He lifted the cylinder, where a droplet of blood was surfacing from Adrielle's wrist. He brought out a small glass slide and dabbed the small puncture, and slid it into a slot at the bottom of the datapad. "Now, let's see…" He stared down at the screen, as Uriel likewise stood and leaned over the desk.

Adrielle watched the two men looking down at the datapad, before finally.

"Huh," Uriel said, "Well what do you know, I guess she was right."

"Well I mean, it's still above the average count," Orrickos added. "I've known a few Whill Guardians with similar counts. But yes, definitely well below the amount required for any type of substantial sensitivity."

"Sorry," Adrielle cut, "but, 'count'?"

"Midichlorian count," Orrickos explained, "They're sort of symbionts within the cells of all living beings that allow them to connect to the Force. In high enough amounts, that connection can also give way to a degree of _control _over the Force."

"_But_," Uriel pointed out, "I definitely know what I saw. She used the Force. She clearly has powers. So the relic gave her abilities, but her count is still below the normal count of a Force-sensitive? How?"

"Oh come now, Uriel," Orrickos chuckled, "we both know the Force is and will always be a grand mystery. As if it could ever be truly and reliably known and measured scientifically. As in all things, the Force only ever shares as much as it wishes for us to know of its nature at any given time, no more, no less."

"Careful, Master, your Sage is showing."

"Oh shut up," Orrickos laughed, before turning his focus back on Adrielle. "Well, don't worry about any of that. All of this will hopefully be clear to you soon. I suppose for now, if I could ask you to try and meditate. Have you ever tried that before?"

"Sure," Adrielle said, "My dorm mate back in Obroa-skai introduced me to—" She stopped. That particular memory was still too raw.

"Don't worry," Orrickos assured her, "Just do your best."

"That's just it," Adrielle answered, "If I'm understanding what you're saying, and everything I've been feeling is the work of the… the Force, then…" She took a breath. "Then I want no part of it. You have no idea the hell I've had to go through! When you feel like your skull is going to burst open, when you're feeling so many things you don't know whether to laugh or scream, to cry or rage, the urge to break the closest thing to you but also this crippling fear of doing _anything_…"

"Oh we know more than you think," Orrickos said, "Tell me. These floods of emotion. Have you felt any of it since setting foot on Dantooine?"

Adrielle blinked. Thinking back to everything, from landing, to sitting in this office, she'd never even realized. "No."

"What _did_ you feel as you walked here?"

She remembered clearly. "Peace. Serenity… harmony."

Orrickos's eyes twinkled. "You're so new to this. Things that even an untrained Force-sensitive would've mastered at childhood if only by instinct, you're dealing with in adulthood." He leaned forward. "Those feelings plaguing you… Those were the emotions of people around you. Untrained, undisciplined minds who've never needed to keep their emotions in check, and they were bouncing off your suddenly sensitive mind, like a satellite relay, and you with no way to filter or control it. But _here_…" He gestured around him, "Here, we train specifically to control those things. That's why you can be here with no worry of pain or torment. You don't need to worry about taking the turbulent emotions of those around you because those around you here have learned to control them. Just as we can teach you, if you'll let us."

Adrielle looked up at Orrickos, her eyes beginning to well up. Finally, after what felt like forever, she thought she'd never again know what hope felt like. But here, in this place, almost like an answer to her prayers, she could find shelter from the storms of the rest of the galaxy.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Orrickos smiled. "Not at all. After all, it's what we do." He leaned back. "Now, if you can, please, try to concentrate."

She nodded and closed her eyes. She tried clearing her mind, envisioning an airlock in her mind sucking all her thoughts, worries, and fears into it, before dissolving it. She took a deep breath, then exhaled. Then again, several more times. She felt her shoulders, which she hadn't even known were tensed, relax. She was beginning to find her center…

Until she saw and felt it again: The frigid gales, the thundering waves, the deafening winds.

She let out a scream and slumped forward.

"Adrielle!" Orrickos swung around his desk and took a knee next to her as Uriel leaned toward her, his hand already hovering over her head.

"Nng…" Adrielle moaned as she slowly raised her head.

"Are you all right?" Orrickos asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, thanks, but…" She shook her head. "I saw… flashes of… _something_. I can't tell you. It just comes in a rush, I can't pinpoint anything. And the chaos of it…"

"Could it be the relic?" Uriel asked.

"Possible," Orrickos said. "But I definitely know that feeling of chaos. Your balance." He looked at Adrielle. "You're unbalanced. In order to even begin to try understanding your newfound connection, you need to find your own balance, otherwise every time you try to touch the Force, it'll be torture for your mind."

"But how?" Adrielle asked.

"Oh _that_ I can't just answer," Orrickos said, "I'm afraid everyone has a different source or means of balance."

"Then how do I find it?"

"Simple. You need a teacher."

Adrielle smiled in relief. "Thank you. I was afraid I'd be a lost cause."

"Certainly not. However…" Orrickos's eyes twinkled. "_I_ won't be your teacher." He pointed at Uriel. "_He_ will."

He and Adrielle both looked at each other.

"WHAT?!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Obroa-skai**

"This way, Lord," Lord Khos called from below.

Judecca vaulted over the guardrail into the trench, where five other Sith Lords were standing around the entrance to a drainage tunnel. "You're certain?"

"I don't think it's coincidence that several of us were drawn to this particular location. And it's as you said. A unique presence. It's faint, but it's there."

Judecca narrowed her eyes. 'Faint' was not a good sign, especially if this relic was as powerful as she'd been led to believe. "Khos, Yarl, with me. Hopefully together we'll be able to pinpoint the location more efficiently."

Flanked by the two fellow Sith, she made her way into the tunnel. Sure enough, each turn was easily made, each fork in the path figured out within seconds, until they reached a hole, where the aura was emanating from, clearer than ever.

_No doubt now._

In a swift motion, Judecca swung her lightsaber igniting it midway, cutting down Yarl, then using Khos's shock to her advantage to impale him. She looked down at her handiwork as she put her weapon away. "Overcome by the artifact's influence, Lord Yarl sought to take it for herself only to be cut down by Lord Khos, who erroneously deemed it the best course of action to destroy Lord Phagos's prize, leaving me with no other choice than to carry out my master's wrath, and leaving Phagos none the wiser as to who ended up with the artifact. Perfect." She smirked as she leapt down the hole.

She landed in a cavernous area. The aura was here, somewhere. Following her senses, she didn't even need her lightsaber to guide her path as she made her way to a tall flat-topped rock. Sensing the aura but unable to see it, she unclipped her lightsaber, held it over the stone, and ignited it. Her breath caught in her throat.

Nothing. Nothing but what looked like black ash.

"But," she sputtered, "But, it's _here_! I feel it!" She reached again, thinking that maybe her senses had somehow been deceived. But no; her senses pointed her to the stone before her—the stone where the artifact had once lain.

They'd gotten there first… and were _still_ too late. And with no tangible lead as to the artifact's next location…

With a roar of frustration, she cleaved the stone in two.

**The **_**Devourer**_

Judecca strode angrily across the hangar and through the halls, not caring who she bumped into or forced to adjust their course, as she made her way to the captain's quarters, sealing the door behind her. She went over to the holocomm in the left wall and activated it and sent out the call.

Moments later, the image of a hulking figure in a black robe with a hood covering all but his deep red face materialized, as Judecca went on one knee.

"Ah, apprentice," **Darth Phagos** greeted, "I trust you're calling with news of the artifact?"

"Not good news, master," Judecca spat as she looked up. "We beat the Republic to the planet as hoped, but were still too late. The artifact… it's gone."

Silence. Even across the lightyears, Judecca could still feel her master's seething anger at the news.

"It seems for every small bit of progress, we are set back even more so," Phagos said, putting venom into every word. He gave a deep sigh before refocusing his gaze on his apprentice. "And how goes the overall attack on the planet?"

"It's… an attack," Judecca answered, "We've left no doubt in the minds of the people of our intent toward conquest. Even with the artifact's loss, we can still salvage this by bringing an entire world under the Emperor's thumb."

Phagos nodded, seemingly willing to take what good news he could get. "Then finish your campaign. Bring your heel down upon Obroa-skai, or burn it all to the ground, failing that."

Judecca smiled at the permission that she hadn't even needed to ask for. "It will be done, my master."

**Dantooine**

"No! No way am I—"

"Look, no offense to him but I don't really think—"

"Master we've been through this a thousand times—"

"With due respect sir, I'm not sure this is the best—"

"It's the only way," Orrickos said simply, lifting his hands to calm them. "I'm the highest ranked Master in this temple, with all the duties and responsibilities that go with it. I can't just take on an apprentice like that. Plus, I mean…" He gestured to his wrinkled face. "Look at me!"

"Master," Uriel began, "Find any other Knight or Master in this enclave. But I will _not_ teach her."

Adrielle couldn't help but glance at the man next to him. She was no keener on the idea, but she still couldn't help but feel put off by the firmness of Uriel's declaration.

"Uriel, a moment please?" Orrickos requested as he stood and walked over to the door, gesturing to the hallway.

Uriel sighed, stood and followed Orrickos out.

"Really, Master? Hiding behind your position? That's a new low."

"Was any of what I said wrong?" Orrickos asked innocently.

"Not the point and you know it." Uriel leaned against the wall. Come on, Master. You and she clearly have a connection literally _minutes_ after first meeting her. Do you really think that's wise to not make use of that?"

"Interesting that you speak of 'wise' to me. I find myself questioning your wisdom in your staunch, some would say _stubborn_ refusal to take her on. To take on _any_ new Padawan, ever since Janiah."

Uriel sighed audibly. "There's really nothing at all I can ever do or say to convince you that I'm fine, is there?"

"There's one thing." Orrickos placed a hand on Uriel's shoulder. "Look, just give it a shot. Give _her_ a shot. She clearly needs help, and you've always been nothing short of an exemplary Jedi. What Jedi would ever turn his back on someone struggling with her connection to the Force? Just… try to help her find her balance. If you do that and still have no interest in taking her on, then you end things, no complications. I'll find someone else to take her on."

It was at that moment that it dawned on Uriel. "No… wait." He looked at his master. "_Family_."

Orrickos looked at him. "… She has one."

"Course she does."

"Why does this surprise me?"

"You're not used to dealing with people with."

"Why did this never even occur to me?"

"Because the only people you hang around with are Jedi." Uriel sighed, half with exasperation, half with relief. "Okay. I'll help her find her balance, but then we have to send her back home. We can't just take a nineteen year old college student away like an infant."

"But if she has the power of the artifact within her…"

"Ah damn, you're right." Uriel sighed and looked at the floor, as though a solution would emerge from beneath his feet. Funnily enough, it more or less did. "Okay so she did mention that she's seen Jedi on her homeworld, meaning whatever planet she's from, we apparently have a presence there. We just ask her where she lives once her training's done, and we'll send her back, but make sure that whatever the local Jedi presence is there, they keep an eye on her, her family, to make sure that no one comes after them. Who knows, maybe they can even serve as unofficial tutors to help maintain her control and discipline over her abilities."

"Right. It's the best we've got so far." Orrickos grimaced at having missed such an obvious external factor as he opened the door again and entered.

Uriel followed him in and stood looking at Adrielle. "All right, I'll help you. But—" He raised a finger when he saw her eyes widen, "This is just temporary. Just enough so you can live functionally with your new condition, then we'll bring you back to your family."

That last part brought a clear smile to Adrielle's face. "Thank you! You have no idea how much this means after everything that's… happened." She had to shake her head to bring herself back to the present.

"Yeah well," Uriel chuckled dryly, "we'll just see how thankful you are once we've really gotten started."

**Dromund Kaas**

Having sensed her moments before, Darth Phagos opened his eyes just seconds before he heard the chime from his door. He uncrossed his legs to bring his feet back to the floor as the boulders that had been likewise floating around him came crashing down. He allowed himself an additional few moments to savor the delicious but woefully fleeting fear that had briefly surged from the inhabitants of the living chambers in the lower floor. Gazing at the door, he unlocked it with a casual wave of his hand.

The door slid open and in walked a fully armored figure, with a full helmet concealing her (based on her overall figure and how she walked) completely.

Though nothing compared to the Lords of the Dark Council, Phagos's place of status within the power structure of the Empire nevertheless awarded him great wealth, which he used on resources, weapons, and connections to make his many operations and ambitions execute more efficiently. But none of those acquisitions compared to his greatest asset before him: a Mandalorian bounty hunter contracted exclusively to him.

"You got another job?" **Viah Thavid** asked.

"Yes. I think I might have just the kind of hunt that you've been craving." He allowed a malicious smile to cross his face. "The planet Obroa-skai. An artifact of great importance is lost to us. You will find the fool with a death wish who dares steal from me, and deliver them _and_ my artifact to my custody, so I may grant them their wish."

Thavid nodded simply. "Near impossible, with minimal clues or evidence as to even confirm its existence. Just the challenge I live for." She nodded at Phagos, raising a fist in solidarity. "Consider it done."


	6. Chapter 6

**Coruscant**

Eyes closed, Adrielle worked at blocking out the chaos around her. She sat cross-legged on the floor next to a pillar in the Jedi Temple, as Jedi and Sith clashed all around her, blaster bolts flying past her in all directions. Ignoring that initial pang that always came, she tried to ignore the flood of hatred, fear, anger surrounding her, choosing only to focus on the things she knew to be true.

Soon, the deafening cacophony of feelings became little more than background noise, and she began focusing on more intimate sounds: her heartbeat, her breathing, and the pulse of her blood rushing behind her ears.

_VRMM:_ The sound of a lightsaber that swung by a little too close for comfort.

The oh-so-realistic stench of carbon scoring permeating the floor, pillars and walls around her.

She instinctively opened her eyes to see a Jedi and a Sith locked in combat literally next to her, their blades clashing and twirling. Mid-sequence, the Jedi's lightsaber came swinging right to where her head was.

"NO STOP!" Adrielle brought up her hands, as though they would block the weapon.

The blade's holoimage passed harmlessly through her hands and head.

"_End simulation_!" she heard Uriel's voice bark—the Temple vanished, and Adrielle was back in one of the training centers of the **Dantooine** Temple. Uriel marched over to her. "I'm not sure what's sadder. That _attempt_, if it could even be called such, at staying focused, or the fact that your first instinct at seeing a lightsaber come at you is to put your damn hands up."

"I'm… sorry, Master—"

"What've I said about calling me that?"

"Sorry, Uriel…"

"You block the chaos from your mind, and it holds for a minute at best, before you get psyched out." He unclipped and ignited his lightsaber and held it pointing downward, the tip only just barely touching the floor. "You keep trying to ignore the things that disturb you when all ignoring it does is give it power over you in the long term." He deactivated his weapon and beheld the black scorch mark on the floor, which hadn't been there in the first two seconds he had his weapon out, but after close to ten seconds, the black mark had become more obvious. "The key to internal peace is _not_ to pretend that there is no external chaos. It's to acknowledge that chaos, but refuse to let it soil your internal peace." Uriel paced slowly around Adrielle. When he was behind her, he bent down so his face was just centimeters from her ear. "Unless you believe that the galaxy must somehow _change_ itself… _deaden_ itself, for your consideration, just so you won't have your little headaches anymore?

"No! Of course not, I—"

"Then stop looking to the _world outside_ for your peace—" Uriel straightened. "—and make and maintain your _own_ peace!" He continued pacing around her. "Nothing _they_ have to offer can bring you the true peace you need. Only the Force can do that." He stopped in front of her. "Firstly, lastly, _only_, seek the Force. With pure intentions seek it. Then, all those other, superfluous things you so crave, they will come to you naturally. Seek the Force, and you will also gain the universe. But seek the universe, and you will lose both. Remember this! Then, maybe one day, you can learn to become an instrument of peace for some other poor bastard who needs guidance."

Adrielle sighed, took a deep breath, and nodded. "I… I think I understand."

"Do you?" Uriel waved his hands, and the lights lowered. "We'll see."

Adrielle closed her eyes.

**Obroa-skai**

Viah approached the drainage tunnel. The troopers stationed at either side of the entrance stepped toward each other to close off the entrance.

"Step back, Mando," one of them warned, "Authorized personnel only."

Viah rolled her eyes, unseen behind her helmet, as she brought out a clearance chip and presented it. The guard held it up and inspected the content, showed it to his partner, who nodded.

"All right, you're clear per Lord Phagos's authorization. Just try not to make a mes—" He let out an audible grunt as Viah walked straight past through him.

She followed the markings placed by the Sith who had investigated prior, making her traversal a simple matter. In just minutes she found herself in the cavern.

The middle of the cavern was blocked off by four barricades forming a square. Viah walked toward one barricade before vaulting over it into the enclosed area. She looked down. As far as she could see, it was a random spot on the ground. But she'd worked with the Sith long enough to know that their lords never did anything randomly. She put a hand to her helmet and switched her visor's scanning. Sure enough, amidst the unremarkable earth, there were particles of… something, of a foreign material or substance from what made up the rest of the cavern.

She reached down with her right hand and dabbed a finger on the particle mass. Seeing that her gauntlet had taken some of the dust, she used another finger to access the console on her left wrist. A small slot opened at the back of the wrist, just at the base of her hand. She placed her right index finger onto that slot before calibrating her visor once more. If that sample could be matched with her visor's detection tech…

_Yes!_

Viah glanced behind her. Very faint, but undoubtedly there for those who knew to look, she spotted a trail. She turned and began following it, her eyes now opened.

**Dantooine**

"How did I know you'd do that?" Uriel remarked.

Adrielle was sprawled on the floor, breathing hard. Her hand was gripped around the trunk of one of the small trees that lined the left wall, but which just moments ago had been the hand of a newly orphaned Theelin girl.

"You wear your emotions on your sleeve," Uriel continued as Adrielle returned to her spot in the center of the room, "Dangerous. The whole purpose of this training is for you to find your personal balance, yet here you are literally throwing yourself out of balance purposely."

"That's not—"

"That was the fourth scenario you've gone through," Uriel interrupted, "and the _seventeenth_ _overall_. And here you are, still getting duped? Even a youngling would've figured it out after at most the third try!"

"I know, it's just…" Adrielle looked down. "I _was_ in control for most of it, I really was. Until… until I saw that child." She looked at Uriel. "She's real, isn't she? Her tragedy was real, just like all the other scenarios these simulations are based on. A real orphan. And me _passing_ is for me to ignore her?"

At that moment, Uriel saw her with opened eyes. And sighed. "Damn it, so that's what it's about."

"Please, Uriel," Adrielle started, "They're all I can think about, the worry is driving me insane, if I could just—"

"And risk exposing this temple to the Sith?" Uriel scoffed. "Why don't we take a trip to the other side of the planet, where the ruins of the original Dantooine Temple are? Ruins because our forbearers were careless and arrogant in their security."

"You don't know that."

"I don't know the history of this temple?"

"No, I mean you don't know that it'll be a danger!"

"Security recklessness aside, this is the very thing we're trying to equip you against!" He took a couple steps toward her. "Attachment, anxiety, fear of loss—"

"Says the guy too afraid to make a single unencrypted call because _that_ will be the one things that'll doom this place?"

Uriel bent down to face her. "At least," he sneered, "_my_ concerns are about things that are real instead of holograms." He straightened and turned his back to her. "You're literally ruled by a fear of _nothing_." He gestured dismissively. "We're done today. No further instruction can possibly help you."

Adrielle opened her mouth to—

"That. Is. All," Uriel declared.

She closed and pursed her lips tight until the curses and insults behind them simmered down and eventually evaporated.

She heard Uriel laugh bitterly. "Trust me, I've been called worst."

Adrielle felt a wave of revulsion and violation wash over her. She swiftly got to her feet and left in a haste.

When the door slid shut, Uriel let out a sigh. He hadn't even _tried_ to read her; she virtually all but shouted her thoughts at him, whether or not she had intended to. _She's an open book_, he thought. _Even a Korriban acolyte would be able to mind trick her. Hell, even in her first year under me, Janiah was never this inept!_

He shook his head. Two days already, and no progress. At this point, he had begun to consider the possibility of a scenario in which she would never gain control over her new abilities. In which case, what should have been a boon to the Jedi, to the Republic, to the galaxy, would suddenly become a severe liability.

The question was: How do you neutralize a liability that is still a living, breathing person?

. . .

The petal was in shreds.

Adrielle let the shreds scatter into the small pond at the center of the main hall as she reached for another one. It was the only thing she could think to do to occupy her hands—and hopefully by extension, eventually her mind. Once she could get Uriel out of there.

"Heya!" a voice called from behind. Adrielle turned to see Shy'reena coming toward her to join her at the railing. She leaned forward, mirroring Adrielle's posture, sans flower. "Rough day?"

Adrielle's sigh said everything it needed to.

"Figured." Reena reached down to pick up a stone, which she tossed into the lake. "Look, speaking as someone who's known him for just about all our lives, just… don't take anything he says too hard. I know he might come off as a massive jerk… because he _is_ a massive jerk…"

Adrielle let out an involuntary laugh.

"…and he'll be the first one to let you know. But, it's just because for him, he's never had to go through that struggle that the rest of us have. You know…" Reena turned to face Adrielle. "The struggle to figure out just what in the stars we were put in this galaxy for. To him, and majority of his kind, the Jedi path is all he knows. He never had the benefit of a biological family, or parents, even before the Jedi found him. As far as he's concerned, Orrickos is his father and the Jedi are his family. So understandably, sympathizing with the crisis you're going through right now is just a tad bit difficult for him."

Adrielle frowned, as she turned to face Reena in turn. "What do you mean 'even before the Jedi found him'? He was a war orphan?"

Reena grimaced, signifying she may have overshared. "Damn it, sorry Uriel… Yeah, he is. But you'd need to get the details from him. I've already said too much, and he's not too big on sharing personal things."

"Oh don't I know it," Adrielle said drily as she went back to shredding her fourth petal.

Reena looked around quizzically. "Huh. Weird. Just realized, you're the only one here besides the reception droid. Usually the Padawans or Knights clear out _after_ I've shown up, if only to not have to put up with the 'distraction I inevitably represent,' to use Uriel's precise words."

Adrielle glanced at Reena, in her grey top with a black jacket over it, her black pants which to be fair could've afforded to be a bit less tight, with matching knee-high boots. "Distraction? I mean, you have good style, but I think _my_ outfit when I first came here was more risqué than anything I've seen you in."

"Oh no, not _that_ distraction!" Reena laughed, "I think he meant the whole 'causing undue disturbance in the Force around here' thing. Especially for the little ones, when they're used to the tranquility slash monotony of this place, anyone who _isn't_ like that would cause ripples, kind of like the stones I've been throwing in this here pond."

Adrielle nodded in understanding, before it dawned on her horribly. The other Jedi had left before Reena came in because for once, Reena wasn't the distraction in the Force. She sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder if coming here was a mistake," Adrielle confided. "I can't help but think that I'd be doing them a much bigger service leaving them alone for me to deal with this problem on my own than staying here and burdening them." No sooner had she finished that sentence, than an epiphany occurred to her. She slowly turned her head toward Reena again. "Reena…" She began, "You're a smuggler… meaning your ship probably has an encrypted comm system, right?"

"Well, yeah," Reena answered in an _of course I do_ tone.

"And if you make a call in space, covering your tracks is as easy as jumping away right after, right?"

"Well there's a bit more to it than that, but yeah the general principle still hoooooo—why?"

Adrielle leaned closer to Reena. "May I ask a favor? And if anything happens, we'll just say I made you."

Reena raised an eyebrow. "Go on…"

. . .

"ARE YOU _KIDDING ME_?!" Uriel yelled as he sprinted down the hall that led to the hangar.

Sure enough, when he got there, the _Drowning Mermaid_ was nowhere to be found. He reached in his robe and pulled out his tracker: one of only three that Reena had distributed among herself, Uriel, and Karmus Jysed, so that in the event her ship were compromised, whoever was in the closest vicinity or more available could retrieve it. But sure enough, as Uriel could see, Reena had disconnected his.

He knew the only option he had, and groaned in frustration over it because of what it meant. Swallowing his paranoia (and a little bit of pride along with it), he brought out his comlink and called Karm.

"Karm! Come in _now_!"

A moment later, Karm's voice came through: "Uriel? What's wrong?"

"I need you to check your tracker for the _Mermaid_, give me its exact location and keep me updated as long as you can, hopefully Reena won't remember to turn yours off."

"Uh, sure, no problem." Karm's confusion was palpable, but he continued on. "… okay, I think I got their location…"

**The Cademimu Sector**

Uriel's fighter dropped out of hyperspace, just klicks away from where the _Mermaid_ was sitting. Hoping against hope, he opened comms and waited.

Close to twenty seconds later, he heard Reena's voice: "This is Captain Shy'reena of the _Drowning Mermaid_, responding to lone Jedi fighter."

"Shaft it, Reena," Uriel growled, "What in the actual hell are you _thinking_, seizing a key asset right out of Jedi jurisdiction?!"

"Oh, sorry," Reena replied coolly, "Didn't know this was an _asset_. Thing is, when I saw her at the Temple a couple hours ago, all I could see… was a _person_. Weird, that."

Uriel bit back his retort, re-centered himself, before answering calmly. "Reena… _Captain _Reena… On behalf of the Dantooine Jedi Temple, I am formally requesting the return of our…" It took him a couple seconds to find a more fitting term. "…_ward_, to our care, in the interest of affording her the maximum protection." He briefly considered adding the typical veiled threat at the end, but decided against it.

A couple moments passed before Reena's voice chimed in: "Sure, no problem! You have permission to board."

**The **_**Drowning Mermaid**_

Uriel strode into the cabin, where he saw Adrielle at the main holocomm, with the image of two humans—a man and woman—which flickered out as he approached, but not before he was able to catch an "I love you" from one of them.

He came up behind Adrielle, as she was hunched over the console, her back to him. He stood and crossed his arms over his chest to wait for her to turn around.

"I'm sorry," she said faintly. "It was my idea. I made Captain Reena do it. But, I did make sure to wait until we were far enough away from Dantooine to make the call."

Uriel stayed standing with arms crossed. "Be that as it may, since you claim all responsibility, you'll take all the penalties. Your next three days will be strictly monitored, spent only in training or your quarters, no more."

"I understand," she replied.

"Furthermore, you are on cleaning duty for the _Mermaid_ as compensation for inconveniencing her."

"Hey," Reena cut in, "No, that won't be necessary, you don't have to—"

"Yes," Adrielle said, "I understand, Master Baylan."

Uriel growled as he grabbed her by the upper arm to turn her around. "Damn it, what did I tell you about calling me—" He stopped at what he saw.

Adrielle Lunan, standing before him, her gaze cast down to the floor. Her eyes still damp from when she'd had her holo conversation, but beyond that, just a solid, obstinate… _peace_. Her eyes were focused on the floor, but showed no signs of wavering. Uriel placed a hand over her head and felt for her. In response, all he felt was a definitive sense of tranquility, contentment, and inner harmony: the first time ever since he first met her that he'd gotten that from her.

_I'm afraid everyone has a different source or means of balance_.  
Once again, Orrickos indeed knew best.

Uriel moved his hand from hovering over Adrielle's head and placed it on her shoulder reassuringly—approvingly.

"Come on, let's head back home."


End file.
